Right, here I am again, the third time in a week at St James’ Park.
After the defeat of Crystal Palace and the beautiful chaos against Leeds, there was a chance to win three too. The approach to this was interesting.
The FA Cup is perhaps the only disappointment of the Eddie Howe era. Two League One opposition eliminations and last season’s disappointing home loss to Brighton were a sharp contrast to the relative joy the League Cup has brought.
There were a number of ways to look at the role of the world’s oldest knockout competition in this campaign.
With a return to a solid sixth place in the league, a Champions League season that looks set for the knockouts and a Carabao Cup semi next round, there was a solid argument that the FA Cup should be fourth and the best way to rest as many first-team players as possible. The counter to this is that the semi-final is a daunting prospect, the Champions League is not a viable trophy and the league format is unreliable, so it would certainly be worth having the FA Cup in the bag if everything else were to implode in mid-February.
Given the crippling fixture list, it felt like we could have done without this draw. It’s great to be at home, but a manageable lower league side would have been preferable to a tough PL opponent who we can’t beat in the league. Once again there might have been a counter-argument here as Bournemouth, bereft of Semenyo and with an injury list that included last year’s tormentor Kluivert, might offer less resistance than a well-supplied and pumped Championship team playing the biggest game of their season.
The counter-argument, of course, proved flawed as people like me went cold and ended up freezing and utterly damning Bournemouth’s existence as a football club/nuisance many, many hours later.
The big shock at the team announcement was perhaps welcome for many, as the inclusion of both Wissa and Woltemade and the subsequent adoption of a 4-4-2 formation suggested both a willingness to try something new and a determination to go for it.
I wonder if Eddie Howe used this game experimentally to see if it matched the challenges ahead, but if both are to play, some sort of backup is needed, either through the return of Osula or a move in the market.
The front two paid off almost immediately as Willock drove forward on the right and started a lovely flowing move that went through Ramsey and Barnes before Woltemade put Wissa through on goal. He seemed certain to score, but gave Petrovic enough opportunity for a great save.
I’m going to go out here and say that I didn’t like this first half. Willock and Ramsey failed to take their chances in the middle and Bournemouth repeatedly played through us in a series of worrying breaks that the defense didn’t seem comfortable with at all. As it turned into a goalless half, I began to accept that it was going to be a tough, low-scoring affair…
It didn’t take long for the second half to improve as the man of the moment got going again. Just after tearing Leeds apart, Harvey Barnes collected a sumptuous through ball from Big Nick and fired home. Hooray, when is the draw for the fourth round? If Botman’s subsequent header had found the net and not the crossbar, we could all have calmed down.
There followed a moment of annoyance that will never go away for me. Willock steamed into the penalty area as the Bournemouth defender performed a pathetic swan dive that the referee was inexperienced enough to buy. From the ensuing attack, Evailson found space to pick out Scott for a tap-in at the back post.
Initially I was annoyed with Bournemouth for keeping us for half an hour longer, but it soon became apparent that they actually had other intentions. Once again the counter saw United flutter and Brooks steamrolled through our team. Botman got in a tackle but it broke just before Brooks had another try and he beat him into the corner.
As the clock ticked down I started to make the point that we just had to back off and let Bournemouth progress. The coming weeks were not conducive to an extra half hour and the withdrawal of a limping Livramento only increased that fear. Despite this hyperbole, it was still a relief when Tonali was overthrown by the keeper in the final seconds of stoppage time and Gordon put the pen in the belt. Then it started to feel incredibly cold for another half hour, especially as some people wandered away before the end.
Extra time started alarmingly as Botman had to clear the line as Ramsdale came out, but the keeper soon made amends with a stop from the marauding Evanilson. The game inevitably moved towards penalties when the teams suddenly decided to stop all of ET’s action in the final few minutes. Joelinton surged forward and released Gordon, who produced a wonderful cross for Barnes to head in his second final minute of the week. Relief, delirium and, er, disappointment when Bournemouth were allowed to run through our defense and equalize through Tavernier. The mood lifted almost immediately when Barnes returned the favor to Gordon with the cross, but he completely squandered the chance to tap in the goal that would have brought me in from the cold.
Penalties then. Gordon scored the first and Bournemouth did the same before Big Nick stepped up. We all remembered with confidence his beautiful pin against Forest, so it was devastating when he crashed it off the bar. A German missing a penalty? Only in Newcastle. Ramsdale saved him by saving Evanilson’s next.
There was further misplaced confidence when Bruno stepped up after his confident pin against Leeds, but this time he didn’t fool the keeper with his hopping, dancing and pifflery and we were in debt again when Cook scored the next. Tonali kept us in touch, then Ramsdale stepped up again and made the save from Jimenez to take things back to the next level.
We then entered a period of great annoyance as Joelinton, Hall, Miley and Barnes all scored to give United a chance of victory. The poison I used to make every subsequent Bournemouth player miss and send me into the warm embrace of the lovely pub did not have the desired effect as the miserable nice spoilers scored viciously every time.
I had almost lost the feeling in my fingertips when Malick Thiaw stepped forward and took a more German pen and made it a 7-6 overall. This time Diakite was more obliging and Ramsdale made another great save to finally send us to the fourth round.
The bottom line is that in cup games all that matters is getting into the hat for the next round, and to that extent the job is done.
However, there are reasons for concern as our two wins this week involved six goals, some of which were highly avoidable. The prospect of Man City, who scored just a 10 in today’s win, turning up for a big match on Tuesday is a bit daunting and requires everyone to be there, including the crowd.
Hopefully this winning habit can continue though as a fiery season looks promising on four fronts. That return trip to Wembley is still going ahead, in what capacity remains to be seen.
Newcastle 3 Bournemouth 3 AET and NUFC win 7-6 on penalties – Saturday January 10, 2026 3:00 PM
Match statistics
Goals:
Newcastle United:
Barnes 50, 118ET, Gordon 90+5
(Penalties taken – Woltemade and Bruno do not score BUT Gordon, Tonali, Joelinton, Barnes, Hall, Miley and Thiaw all score)
Bournemouth:
Scott 62, Brooks 68, Tavernier 120+2
Possess was Newcastle 63% Bournemouth 37%
Total shots were Newcastle 23 Bournemouth 22
Shots on target were Newcastle 7 Bournemouth 13
Corners were Newcastle 7 Bournemouth 5
Touches in the opposition box Newcastle 67 Bournemouth 32
Newcastle team vs Bournemouth:
Ramsdale, Trippier (Miley 69), Thiaw, Botman, Livramento (Hal 59), Tonali, Willock (Joelinton), Ramsey (Bruno 79), Barnes, Wissa (Gordon 69), Woltemade
Unused subs:
Pope, Alabi, Neave, Alex Murphy
You can follow the author on BlueSky @bigjimwinsalot.bsky.social
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